The whereabouts of a USD 5,800 bottle of Japanese whiskey that was gifted to former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is baffling the state department which has launched an inquiry into what happened to the expensive booze, according to media reports.
The US Department of State is looking into the whereabouts of the bottle, CNN reported, citing state department filings in the federal register.
The Government of Japan gifted the whiskey to Pompeo in 2019, the document says.
The department took the unusual step of noting that the whereabouts of the whiskey is unknown. Similar filings over the past two decades make no mention of any similar investigations, The New York Times reported.
“The department is looking into the matter and has an ongoing inquiry,” the filing said. But it is unclear if Pompeo himself received the whiskey or if a staffer accepted it.
Pompeo said Thursday that he never received the bottle of whiskey and that he had “no idea” it was missing, nor what happened to the gift.